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US Youth Soccer Regional Championships begin Friday in Edmond

208 teams will compete to advance the National Finals.

BY STEPHANIE KUZYDYM •
Published: June 20, 2013

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OKC FC PROFESSIONAL SOCCER: Oklahoma City FC goalkeeper Evan Helker slides through defender Jackson Gray (left) to block a shot in a scrimmage with Oklahoma City FC's premier development league team on June 17, 2013. Photo by KT KING, The Oklahoman

The nation's elite youth soccer players are coming to Edmond.

Over the next week, 208 teams featuring 3,600 soccer players will sprint across the grass in Edmond in search of victories that will advance them to the National Finals in Overland Park, Kan., youth soccer's version of the Final Four.

First though, the teams must win their region's title at the 2013 US Youth Soccer Region III (South) Championship, which begins Friday and continues through Thursday, June 27. The event is estimated to provide an economic impact of more than $8 million to the area and a few divots in the fields at Edmond Soccer Complex.

“It is an honor to hold the US Youth Soccer Southern Regionals in Edmond,” Carl Tipton, chair of the local organizing committee, said in a press release. “Soccer means a great deal to this community. We are delighted to host the best players and teams from across the region in this elite competition and utilize our top-tier facilities and volunteers.”

The event was last held in Oklahoma in 1999. These youth soccer players come from 12 regionals that make up the South Region: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Texas, South Carolina, South Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma. They've made it here by winning their individual state championships or a smaller regional championship.

Oklahoma Football Club 95 Boys, or OFC 95 for short, is one of the teams that made it by winning the Oklahoma state championship. Club coach Jack Kurey, who coaches Putnam City North's girls team at the high school level, is well versed in what is considered the oldest youth championship in America. He played in it for three years as a member of the Royals FC 78 squad and has coached the OFC 95 boys for three years, including to this event last year.

“Luckily for us, we've been here before and as a group, I think this is actually their third time,” Kurey said. “For us, we're kind of looking it as our boys get to sleep in their own bed, they get to kind to live life normally and still go through this event.